Parental Censorship

“I am a mother of four with children having big age gaps. The use of the internet is very helpful to me since it gives me more time to concentrate on my work while they play at home. But is this enough? Is this considered good parenting?”

Becauseof our hectic schedules, do we, parents still have the time to censor what our children are watching? Are you the type of parent who watches with your children? Or are you the type of parent who gives the freedom to your children on what they want to watch?

As parents, we are responsible for guiding our children. We mold them into the kind of person they will be when they grow up. Parents must take a stronger role in what we want the society to inject in our children’s minds, hence, censorship is one of them. By censoring what they see and hear, we are protecting them against violence, crime, pornography and much more. They are less exposed to feelings of hate, envy and negativity.

Parents must be aware of the different censoring software that can deny their children’s free access to certain sites. By monitoring and setting limits to what they can do on the internet, children will have more time to explore other activities like sports, cooking, and arts & craft. Parents must also give their time to be with their children. Sometimes, the children engage more on video games and watching television because their parents have no time for them. They seek for time and attention.

The Internet can play a vital role in building the child-parent relationship if they use it properly. They can watch movies together and even play video games as a form of family bonding. It can also help the children in doing their school work.

As Muslims, we have a responsibility to see to it that our children use digital gadgets, the internet and IT as a source of good knowledge and that we secure the safety of our children when they explore the internet and connect with people in social media. No matter how stringent you are in trying to monitor young ones because they are digital natives, children will find ways to discover new things. Your best tool is always to educate them about the dangers of exposing too much information about themselves in the digital world as well as the implications of surfing the web for illicit sites and interacting with suspicious strangers in the net. Whether we allow them or censor them, it is for the sake of our children. At the end of the day, what will motivate us to choose whether to censor what our children watch or not, our intention should always be what is best for our children.